Sunday, July 27, 2008

This news report from L A Times says Omar Suleiman may have the inside track to replace the 80 year old Hosni Mubarak beause he is the Spy Chief. The insinuation is all too obvious. I thought of digging up this report whenI read in today's papers that the infamous ISI and IB both would be under the Interior Ministry. And that means the co-PM or Zardari's puppet behind the puppet could well maneuver himself to use the Interior as a launching pad for Presidency. Who should be more aware...or beware of this move - Zardari or Musharraf?

Pakistan’s interior ministry to look after ISI, IB KARACHI, July 26: Two of Pakistan’s premier intelligence agencies, the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) will work under the interior ministry, a local television channel reported on Saturday. A report said a notification issued by the federal government said the interior ministry will look after the administrative, financial and operational matters of the ISI and IB. The notification was issued by the Cabinet Division in Islamabad. Pakistan's interior ministry to look after ISI, IB

and

By Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer July 16, 2008CAIRO -- He appears briefly on TV, not saying much, if anything at all, and then fades into the secrecy and quiet diplomacy that men like him prefer. One day he's in Jerusalem, the next in Gaza, then back to Egypt to whisper in the ear of his boss, President Hosni Mubarak.Omar Suleiman, the head of Egypt's foreign intelligence service, has been at Mubarak's side through triumph and crisis, including a 1995 ambush on the president's motorcade that killed two security officers. It is this loyalty to an unpopular president whose 26 years in power have been marked by emergency law that may lift Suleiman even higher: He is often mentioned as a possible successor to the frail 80-year-old Mubarak.

Zardari from Dubai: Pakistan People’s Party Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has claimed that the decision to place the ISI under the Interior Ministry is a step towards the civilian rule and also to save the Army from controversies and a bad name. Talking to The News from Dubai, Asif Ali Zardari said that a strong Army with non-political command was the need of the time and “we hope that positive results will come out from this historic decision”. He said that in future, the enemies of Pakistan would not be able to defame the ISI. “Nobody will say that this agency is not under the control of an elected government as the Interior Ministry will be responsible for responding to the allegations against the ISI.”

UPDATE: And the latest - now "they" have withdrawn this "news release" and say ISI will remain under the PM.

This smacks not of a banana republic, but more like a kangaroo republic...jumping from one mishap to another.